Brits spending more time on mobile phones than TV

People in the UK are for the first time spending more time using their mobile phones rather than watching TV, research has suggested.

Younger people are leading the shift, with 15 to 24-year-olds devoting nearly five hours a day to their phones.

A survey by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) found that while most people find TV relaxing, viewers are more likely to feel sad when watching videos on a handheld device.

Mobile tends to be “always on”, the report found, with people consistently looking at phones throughout the day, whereas TV viewing is usually in the evening.

“We can’t definitively say that devices drive how people feel,” but there are “distinct patterns” said Simon Frazier, the IPA’s head of data innovation.

“Consistently high mobile phone usage throughout the day could imply that adults remain more distracted, on-the-go, or less ‘switched off’,” he said.

Overall, a survey of nearly 6,500 people aged 15-years-old and over, found that individuals spend an average of three hours and 21 minutes each day on their mobiles.

That compares to three hours and 16 minutes watching the TV – the first time that daily mobile phone viewing has surpassed the telly in the 20 years IPA has been publishing the survey.

Phones are “always on, always within reach and increasingly central to how we consume content, connect and unwind”, said Dan Flynn, deputy research director at the IPA.

People aged 15 to 24 spend under two hours a day watching TV, while 65 to 74 year-olds spend nearly five hours watching TV and less than two hours on their phones.

Separate research recently found a shift towards people getting news from social media, with traditional news media “struggling to connect with much of the public”.

The Reuters Institute 2025 Digital News Report found “declining engagement, low trust, and stagnating digital subscriptions” for mainstream media.

Meanwhile podcasters, YouTubers, and TikTokers are being “supercharged” – although their fact-checking may not be the best.

Populist politicians are bypassing traditional journalism in favour of interviewers who are on their side, or “influencers” who “often get special access but rarely ask difficult questions”.

This is helping to spread stories that are not correct, the report found.

This is particularly happening in the US under Donald Trump, as well as parts of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, the report said, and may be contributing to people’s political views becoming increasingly opposed.

However, although false stories are rife, “all generations still prize trusted brands with a track record for accuracy, even if they don’t use them as often as they once did”, the report added.